Imogen Kwok has made a career out of asking food to do unexpected things, with projects including trompe l’œil white chocolate pears for Loewe and a Georg Jensen installation featuring thousands of crystallised edible flowers. Further commissions for Loro Piana, Miu Miu, Hermès and Bulgari have made her one of design’s most sought-after culinary collaborators.
‘In my world, food is natural, beautiful chaos,’ she says. ‘It is defined by its inevitable undoing: constantly changing, unpredictable and irregular. Cooking is my way of carving out a moment of stillness within that, finding beauty just before the first bite, taste or touch.’
Her route into this world was unconventional. Born in Sydney and raised in New York, Kwok studied art history at the University of St Andrews in Scotland and worked in galleries such as Lehmann Maupin before training at the Michelin-starred Eleven Madison Park and Blue Hill at Stone Barns. Since settling in London in 2019, she has brought those disciplines together, constructing edible installations that resemble still-life paintings while retaining the flavour and technique of fine dining.
The British capital has proved to be an apt base. ‘Its energy matches the way I approach food,’ says Kwok. ‘There is this layered friction between the highly curated and the beautifully messy. London isn’t one singular vibe; it is a collection of little cities, all put together.’ Each neighbourhood has its own personality, while history and experimentation continually overlap: ‘You push through a crowd, turn a corner and find a pocket of beauty.’ Relocating here also recast her idea of what a chef could be. ‘It gave me the freedom to experiment,’ she says. ‘London let me be who I wanted to be.’
Imogen Kwok’s London
In Holland Park, The Cosmic House embodies the city’s eccentric streak. Charles and Maggie Jencks’ former home is a postmodern cosmos of celestial symbols, its architecture unfolding like an elaborate visual puzzle. ‘It is whimsical and disorientating in a wonderful way, like being inside a dream,’ says Kwok.
St James’s Dover Street Market is Kwok’s answer to wardrobe panic. ‘I tend to go there because I know I’m going to find something I love,’ she says. Nearby, Gallery Fumi speaks directly to her own practice, with a programme centring on designers who consider the process of making and the emotional life of a material. ‘That is the way I see food as well,’ says Kwok.
For dinner, Kwok chooses Mountain, Tomos Parry’s Soho restaurant. ‘It isn’t pretentious or fussy. The food is incredibly tasty,’ she says. ‘Tomos is known for fire-grilled fish and meat, yet there is also a very delicate hand in the way he handles ingredients.’
In south-east London, Eltham Palace stages the kind of historical collision Kwok values in the city. Built alongside the surviving Great Hall of a medieval royal palace is a 1930s art deco mansion, fusing several centuries into one improbable address. ‘I only discovered it recently, and it is very special,’ she says.
Her final choice takes her east to Cafe Oto in Dalston, a daytime restaurant that turns into a live music venue after dark. ‘They have a genuinely original programme,’ says Kwok. Like London itself, its appeal lies in the unexpected combinations.
Kwok particularly loves London in spring. ‘The sky fills with colour and light, and the streets teem with people, basking in the sun and drinking,’ says Kwok. ‘It makes winter worth enduring.’ And if London had a taste? ‘Creamy and briny.’
According to Imogen...
What is the best month to visit London? The end of June or early July. Or whenever it’s hottest, although that is unpredictable.
What should one wear to blend in? A chic hat – although that is probably better for standing out.
Favourite Londoner? Daniel Day-Lewis. Perhaps because I’ve just watched a run of his films.
What is the best way to make friends? Start a conversation with a stranger and stick with it. Londoners open up eventually.
Where is the best place to misbehave? Hackney.
For more recommendations, buy our London Travel Guide.
Film by Zack Melluish